New video has surfaced that shows
celebrity chef Paula Deen voicing questionable views on race just months
before she was fired by The Food Network.

The channel announced that it is dropping Ms Deen from its network after 14 years on air after the chef had aired a series of racist comments while being deposed for a lawsuit.

However, such questionable views were also made public during a talk at the New York Times last year when the celebrity chef spoke with reporter Kim Severson on a variety of topics including southern attitudes toward race.

She justifies her extreme
views: 'We're all prejudiced against one thing or another,' she
continues. 'I think black people feel the same prejudice that white
people feel.'

Awkward: During one bizarre moment at an interview last year, Deen called up a colleague of hers, Hollis Johnson, and pointing to the backdrop joked that he was as 'black as this board'

Severson brought up the topic of race relations after showing a clip from the chef's appearance on 'Who Do You Think You Are,' in which she visits a large plantation a distant ancestor of hers had owned. The plantation had 30 slaves.

It prompted Deen to talk about the Civil War and the Antebellum South.

She states that the abolition of slavery was a 'terrific change,' but that her great-grandfather struggled with abolition of slavery after the Civil War ended.

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After having 30 slaves on his books, the following year there were none.

'Between the death of his son and losing all the workers he went out into his barn shot himself because he couldn't deal with those kind of changes,' tells Paula.

'Back then, black folk were such integral part of our lives, they were like our family, and for that reason, we didn't see ourselves as being prejudiced.'

Speaking out: Paula Deen defends race relations in the south and her family's history during the American Civil War

She takes care not to refer to them as 'slaves.' She calls them 'these people' or 'workers.'

Ms Deen then moved on to talk about the state of present-day race relations.

She states that race relations in the South are 'good... pretty good - tt will take a long time for it to completely be gone. If it'll ever be gone.'

In a bizarre moment, the former Food Network star talks about a black employee of hers named Hollis Johnson.

She says that he's become very dear to her in the 18 years she's known him.

She points to the black backdrop behind her and says he's 'black as this board.'

Mr Johnson is called on stage and asks him to come up on stage. 'We can't see you in front of that dark board!'

The audience roars with laughter. Ms. Severson, slightly taken aback says, 'Welcome to New York.'

Paula, jokingly retorts, 'Welcome to the South!'

Ms Deen's southern charm shine through, 'This is my son by another father... I can trust him with my life and color ain't got nothing to do with it!'

In the 45-second video released last Friday Deen saod: 'I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong I have done. I want to learn and grow from this. Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable'

Yesterday, The Food Network accounted that Ms Deen would be sacked from her job despite begging the public for forgiveness over her past use of racial slurs.

Deen currently has three regular shows on the network, including Paula’s Best Dishes.

It
came just hours after she released the 45-second video in which she
says: 'I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong I have done. I
want to learn and grow from this.

'Inappropriate,
hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable. I have made plenty
of mistakes along the way but I beg you, my children, my fans, my team,
my partners, I beg for your forgiveness.

'Please forgive me for the mistakes that I've made.'

Sued: TV chef Paula Deen (left) and her brother
Bubba Hiers (right) have been accused of sexual harassment and racism in
a lawsuit filed by a former employee of their co-owned restaurant

The 66-year-old was due to appear on the Today show this morning to to answer questions from Matt Lauer about the racial slurs - but she
pulled out just before the show started.

Later that day she announced on her Twitter page that she would be releasing a video statement soon.

After the initial video was released another, longer one was then posted on YouTube and was taken down soon after.

'My family and I are not the kind of people who the press say we are. I've spent the best of 24 years helping myself and others.

'The color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference doesn't matter to me. It's what is in the heart and my family and I try to live by that.

'I am so sorry, I was wrong, I've worked hard and I've made mistakes but that is no excuse and I offer my sincere apology to those that I have hurt.

'I hope that you forgive me because this comes from the deepest part of my heart and I will continue to work and continue to do good things for good people.'

The no-show came after she was found
in contempt of court in a $1.2million sexual harassment lawsuit for
refusing to turn over a reel of 'obscene and vulgar video outtakes' in
which she is said to cuss up a storm and simulate a sex act on a
chocolate eclair.

Lisa
Jackson is suing the Food Network star and her brother Earl 'Bubba'
Heirs amid claims she was routinely exposed to racist slurs and sexual
harassment while managing Uncle Bubba's Oyster House in Savannah,
Georgia.

She also performs a sex act on a
chocolate eclair and says: 'My a** ain't pretty no more,' according to
court documents obtained byRadarOnline.

Deen had previously appealed the court’s decision and wouldn’t produce the tape until her appeal was heard.

On May 8, the 66-year-old chef and
her co-defendants were ordered to turn it over so that Jackson
could use it as part of her litigation. But they did not do this until
they were found in contempt.

Jackson’s lawyer Matthew Billips told Radar the defendants simply ignored requests to produce the instant
video but these requests were ignored and often they didn't even bother
to respond.

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Jackson claims Bubba sexually harassed her for five years, frequently
used the 'n-word', referred to President Obama as a 'n*gger'
and watched pornography on work computers.

Deen admitted this week to using the N-word and wanting to plan a 'plantation-style wedding' with black waiters dressed like slaves.

The queen of Southern cuisine also
revealed she referred to an underage waitress as a 'piece of p****' and
said she was not offended by racist or sexist jokes - even when members
of her family told them.

The allegations span the years 2005 to 2010, when Deen's Food empire was expanding rapidly.

Transformation: Paula Deen, shed pounds after
being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, but she will have to work harder
to throw off her apparent admissions during the videotaped deposition

Scene: Lisa Jackson worked at the restaurant, pictured, in Savannah, Georgia between 2005 and 2010

Deen has become an
internationally-renowned chef, thanks to her numerous Food Network TV
shows, including 'Paula's Home Cooking' and 'Paula's Party'. She has
become known for her charm and quick-witted Southern banter.

The
lawsuit alleges Deen hired Jackson to plan her brother's wedding and
then told her: 'What I would really like is a bunch of little n******s
to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties. Now,
that would be a true Southern wedding wouldn't it?'